Christmas Time's A'Coming
Bill Monroe cheers me up, gift suggestions and other random notes
Good Lord but a little Bill Monroe can make you feel better. I love this song. Back in the magical times of Ernie’s Christmas mixtapes there was always some version of this song on them. Oh, and Randy Travis saying, “This is Randy Travis wishing you and yours a very merry Christmas.” It was a snippet from some record company sampler he got. It really made the tapes. Every single tape had it.
I come to you today bearing suggestions for Christmas gifts.
NUMBER ONE
The first is a ticket to an upcoming Kieran Kane and Rayna Gellert show here in Champaign. I KNOW, I KNOW, I KNOW!!!! I was beside myself when I heard the news. Kudos to Ed Hawkes for bringing them to Techline on January 27 in the new year! Ok, you can’t buy an actual ticket but you can make a reservation and that would make a delightful Christmas gift.
If you know me, you know that I absolutely adore these two. The only two people allowed to call me Bert. They are truly brilliant musicians and kind and quick witted and charming. They are two of our very favorite humans. I must admit that the recent loss of Mike Henderson has really had me thinking of the Dead Reckoning and Kane Welch Kaplin days. I swear, someday maybe Rayna and Kieran will play Tired of the Running and I will keel over dead from happiness. Well, wait, that’s not a good plan. Regardless, call Ed at 217-493-4654 to reserve seats ($20 suggested entrance fee). 🎁
NUMBER TWO
Did you ever get a Sandwich Life House Concerts t-shirt? They were made for the wonderful Black-Volk festival a little ways back and we still have some for sale. A delightful stocking stuffer for $20 plus shipping (thanks to Jon Byrd, Carrie East, Dan Seymour and Tom Mason for modeling). 🎁
In other non-holiday news, I have once again been reminded of the lessons using the Low Fodmap diet has taught me. Simplicity lets even humble ingredients shine. We had the last of our cabbage potato carrot soup and it was just stupidly good. SO much more than the sum of its parts. By far the hardest part about this regimen is not using garlic and onion. Try to find a restaurant meal without them. Ok, they exist, but few and far between. I LOVE garlic and onion so they were something we used constantly. Despite the difficulty, removing it from dishes really makes the other ingredients come through clearly. Today, with not much in the way of breakfast foods, Ernie made me a smoothie followed by a quesadilla. Just a corn tortilla, cheese and a dash of hot sauce. So simple and so good.
I also try to remember that it is LOW Fodmap, not NO Fodmap. Sometimes I’ll try something and it goes fine so I think I can eat it any time now. No, if I start having it regularly, off the approved list it goes. Like everything else, it is a work in progress.
Today’s lesson: Life is complicated enough. Simplify
Words said multiple times in our house every day: “It’s the chords that are going to kill us.”
Ernie HATES anything to do with cords so we try to avoid him dealing with them at all costs. It’s best for everybody. Thus, I have always done the Christmas lights. This year it was clear I could not easily do it so he stepped up. All morning he had a slightly pissed off, hostile expression on his face. I kept asking him if he was ok. He kept saying yes but I didn’t believe him. Finally I realized it was the dread of the lights. He came through beautifully though. My sweet pea. The rest of the decorating happens tomorrow evening.
Last but not least, I am finally feeling better! I admit I fade pretty quickly but Ernie said my eyes were bright today and I FELT brighter. Always such a relief to feel good after being hit with something.
On that note, onward!